Jacket for water-cooled tubes



Oct. 27, 1953 w. c. SCHMITT 2,657,019

JACKET FOR WATER-coomnpufss.

Filed oct. e, 1951' "l Ik l r f J l V4B j f 1 s e 1f a a i J g n i 1I V s i s j i! l `A l s s f1 i 5 4A I W i s l 5 si a l i 4 i f5 i f A 4L' s I: ,g5 s 4C 5* g-Z I i i i *y y' 5 a g v i a mlm i /Z /4 //l 9 e /0 /3 QA i "/Z 5 9 7" x r, $4/ f 1 M2 f 1 /0 /5 '4 i 425-*- I' "25' Z0` 20 M l /7 l* 7 I \z7 Z9 INVENroR. h//LL/AM C. Sc/fM/rr Bmw/0MM Arm/Mfr Patented Oct. 27, 1953 UNITED STATES JACKET FOR WATER-COOLED TUBES William C. Schmitt, Hackensack, N. J., assigner to Federal Telephone and Radio Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application October 6, 1951, Serial No. 250,051

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to heat exchangers used in combination with electron discharge devices of the high power type, and more particularly to connecting assemblies therefor.

In the operation of high power eiectron discharge devices of the type used in transmitting equipment, it is well known that the power dissipated by the anode and other electrodes in the form of heat, must be absorbed by a fluid coolant, either air or water, to prevent the discharge device from attaining an excessively hot state which might distort or melt the electrodes thereof. It is well known that if forced liquid cooling is utilized in combination with an electron discharge device designed for the purpose, a higher power output is obtainable from the device than would be obtainable if forced air cooling were utilized due to the more ehicient thermal conductivity of liquid as compared with a and affords efficient plate heat dissipation. It is the practice to provide an anode structure which projects through the usual glass-envelope of the device and to cause a high velocity flow of water around such anode. In the prior art, a sepa rate cooling jacket was provided which was adapted to encompass the anode. Separate j ackets create problems of huid-tight joints between the jacket and the discharge device, and diniculty of removal upon replacement of a spent discharge device. also deficient in that a considerable headroom was required in the transmitter cubicle, the headroom being equal to at least the length of the anode within the cooling jacket, such space normally being unused and therefore unnecessarily wasted and requiring large transmitter cubicles. Another deficiency of the prior art devices resulted from the lime deposits which formed within the cooling jackets and which rendered the fluid-tight joint between the anode and the jacket difcult to unseal, due to the cementwlike quality of such deposits.

An object of this invention is to provide an electron discharge device of the type requiring fluid cooling with a cooling jacket permanently associated therewith with single means for eas ily and rapidly mounting same in fluid-tight re-l lation with a coolant source.

Another object of the invention is to provide an electron discharge device of the type having an external anode and requiring fluid cooling, said device having a cooling jacket permanently aixed to said anode in fluid-tight relation, said jacket having inlet and outlet ports leading into said container, fluid-tight means for connecting The prior art devices were PATENT OFFICE said container to a source of a uid coolant and single fastening means for rendering said ports fluid tight.

According to a feature of the present invention there is provided in combination an electrical discharge device ofA 'the type having an external anode, a cooling container surroundingsaid anode and permanently affixed thereto, said container having inlet and outlet ports, means for mounting said device and said container in operating position, said means comprising a mounting member having apertures in register with said ports, fluid-tight means disposed between said container and said mounting mem ber, and single means associated with said mounting means for locking said container in fluidtight relation therewith.

The above-mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best understood, by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a sectional elevational view of a por tion of an electron discharge device and its permanently attached cooling jacket;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the mounting base with which the electron discharge device and jacket cooperate;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the mounting base;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View of the electron dis charge device and its jacket mounted in operating position upon the mounting base; and

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional side View of a portion of the mounting base of the jacket shown in Fig. l.

Referring to Fig. l, there is shown an electron discharge device of the high-powerI dissipation class which requires liquid cooling, comprising an enclosing vessel having an insulating portion I, preferably of glass and having an extended cup-shaped conductive portion 2 which forms the external portion of the anode of the device. The anode 2 is sealed to the vessel at t in a conventional manner thus rendering the enclosing vessel air-tight. rlhere is further shown a cooperating cooling jacket s permanently aflixed to said anode and adapted to substantially sur round same. The jacket comprises a base portion 5 and an outer member 4A spaced coaxialiy from said anode and attached at one end thereof at 6 to said base portion by means of a lowmelting point fusible material, such, for instance, as soft solder. The outer member 4A has an inwardly curved portion generally indicated at 4B. The jacket further comprises an inner cylindrical portion 4C which has substantially the same conguration as the anode, and which is adapted to be connected to said anode by means of a low-melting point fusible material, such for instance, as soft solder. Both the inner and the outer portions are mutually attached at l by means of a highemelting point fusible material. There is further provided an intermediate member 3 spaced coaxially from said inner and outer portions and connected at 9 to the extended portion IB of the base 5. The inner portion 4C is also attached to extended'portion lil at 9A.

The connections at 9 and 9A maybe made byv any suitable means such for instance, zas y by threaded joints (not shown) which wouldenable easy assembly and later demounting of" the jacket Walls from the base portion 5. The intermediate member e denestwo separate chambers, the iirst chamber il together with the inner member 3C and another chamber i2 with the outer member A. Both of said chambers are mutually in connection at I3. The innerchamber i i is provided with a r'luid inlet port is which port extends exteriorly of the base at i5. IThe outer chamber i2 is provided with a iiuid outlet port which port extends through the base at I6. Thus, if a fluid is introduced through the inlet port M the inner chamber iii will become ooded and the fluid will overiiow over the top of the intermediate member 3 into the outer chamber i2 as indicated by the arrow and thence through the outlet port i6. The base portion has a central aligning post il axially projecting outward therefrom. The post il has a partially tapered recess i3 extending radially thereinto, which recess is provided for a purpose which will be explained below.

In Fig. 2, there is shown in section. a cooperating mounting plate I9, which is in the nature of a socket for the discharge device and its cooling jacket. The plate iii has a pair of apertures 2i! which register with the inletpipe I5 and the outlet port i5, respectively, of the base 5 of the jacket. There is also provided a third aperture 2i to register with the aligning post il. A transverse threaded aperture 22 is provided in plate i 9 through which a screw 23 having a tapered end (Fig. 3) is adapted to travel.

It will be apparent that .the tapered end of screw Z3 will seat into the tapered recess i8 of the aligning post i'i and will tend to draw the base portions 5 close to the mounting plate i9. In order to provide a water-tight seal, the apertures 2li in the base plate are provided with gasket retaining grooves 2d which are coaxial with the apertures 2G and are cut into the upper surface of the mounting plate l 9. A pair of resilient gaskets 3E (only one of which is shown in Fig. 2) are adapted to seat Within the retaining grooves and extend part distance above the surface oi plate i9. It will be seen that when the discharge device and its jacket are placed into the mounting plate and the aligning post is drawn down by the tapered screw, the two gaskets will be compressed by axial pressure exerted thereupon and will thereby form a fluid-tight seal between apertures i5, and the corresponding aperture-s 2li. The bottom portions of the apertures 2li are threaded to take suitable uid conducting pipes 27 (Fig. 4) 'leading from a source not shown and to a iluid cooling system (not shown). Under ordinary plumbing 4procedure such pipes may be provided with wicking or 4 pipe-joint compound to provide a huid-tight seal with the base plate.

Disposed on the underside of the mounting plate I9 `are a pair of small threaded apertures 28 (Fig. 3) adapted to take mounting screws and which screws are adapted to mount the mounting plate onto a suitable frame member 2e (Fig. 4) Which may be insulated from the transmitter frame proper by conventional stand-ofi insulators (not shown).

When a tube fails or is required to be replaced, the tapered screw 23 is withdrawn from the recess `i8 inthe aligning post il and thereupon the entire assembly consisting of the electron discharge device and its attached jacket may be withdrawn by merely lifting the same out of the mounting plate a distance equal to the axial length vofthe aligning post Il. It will be appreciated that only one element need be unscrewed, that is, the tapered screw Tit, to permit the ready withdrawal of the discharge device and jacket assembly and that upon the re-insertion of a new tube, the tightening oi the tapered screw will reseal the inlet and outlet ports by means of the axial pressure exerted upon gaskets 25. Thus, in the event of tube failure, a replacement can be made in the space of a few minutes as opposed to the pondercus technique which was followed heretofore in uniastening water jackets having threaded compression joints surrounding the tube anodes which were very often encrusted with scale and lime deposited over a period of time by the circulating iiuid.

Fig. 5 shows a cross-sectional side view of the aligning post Vi of the jacket base in Fig. l and presents a clear idea of the manner in which tightening of the screw 23 or" the mounting base IS in recess it draws the discharge device and its jacket down into fluid-tight relation with the mounting plate.

The anode 2 is not subjected to high temperatures in the application thereto of the jacket assembly, due to the use or low-melting point fusible material, thus preventing distortion of the anode. In the event of failure of the discharge device, the cooling jacket may be salvaged by unsoldering the outer member sa at unsoldering the anode from the inner portion eC; and unfastening the extended portion it ci the base 5. The two chambers ii and i2 could thus be cleaned of all scale and deposit and the jacket re-conditioned for re-installation on a new discharge device by reversing the removal process detailed above.

If desired, a set of cooling fins (not shown) may be applied to the anode instead of a cooling jacket, thus providing an air-cooled discharge device.

While the invention has been disclosed in a particular embodiment, various modifications may be made in the structure and assembly without departing from the scope of the invention as dened in the appended clair- What is claimed is:

In a mounting arrangement ior the fluid cooling jacket of an electron tube on a mounting plate, said tube cooling jacket having fluid inlet and outlet ports extending through the base portion thereof and said mounting plate having two apertures extending therethrough anl in register with said inlet and outlet ports, with gaskets sealing each 0i said ports to its apertures; means for mounting the jacket in sealing position on the mounting plate comprising a central aligning post coaxially projecting outwardly from the base portion of said jacket. said post having a tapered recess radially disposed along the length thereof, said mounting plate having a corresponding aperture through which said aligning post projects, a tapered screw key extending transversely through said mounting plate, said key being aligned with and adapted to t with its end into the tapered recess in said post and by action of the tapered key on the tapered recess to force the jacket down towards the mounting plate and to press said gaskets into fluid tight relation between said base and portion and said mounting plate.

WILLIAM C. SCI-IMI'I'I.

6 References Cited in the ille of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Gargan Jan. 26, 1926 Gargan et al June 30, 1936 Harrison July 5, 1949 Usselman Apr. 4, 1950 Usselman et a1 July 4, 1950 Breisch Nov. 7, 1950 

